Go Blue Knights!

The DCTC men's basketball team had their first ever in all of history game last night at the northern Iowa tournament and they won!

It's the start of a new, Blue era.  Blue is my favorite color.

In the nearly two week since Halloween, things have been hectic and fun around here.

A week ago, St. Thomas the Academy played South St. Paul in the section finals for football.  STA was undefeated and the game was at their place.  Mom, Dad, me, Woody, Bill and Andy and sundry friends and several of Andy's kids all went.  It had been a lovely sunny day and some of them forgot what happens when the sun sets in November in Minnesota, so they weren't dressed as warmly as they should have been.  Poor Johnny and Gus nearly froze.

STA jumped out to a big lead.  Hootie scored the first touchdown.  At two different times in the game, the Cadets were up by fourteen but SSP refused to lay down and die.  In the fourth quarter, either STA's defense forgot how to play or SSP's offense simply found the chinks in the armor but they managed to pull to even at game's end.  In over time, it all came down to STA choosing to kick an extra point while SSP drove for two extra points, the game and the season, winning 31 to 32.

Hootie scored the overtime td as well so despite the loss I'm really glad I got to watch him play again.

The next morning, his sister Martha took 14 in the State Cross Country meet!  Yay, Martha!  Next year she'll be a junior and one of the runners to watch.

Sunday, I went to the 10:30 mass with Josie and just after the gospel, my phone buzzed; I was waiting for Katie and Adam to call since I'd told them I'd give them a ride home from the airport.  We don't live far from MSP international and the church is even closer so I thought I could grab them, drop them at their car and get back in time for communion.

It all went off like clockwork and I slipped back into the pew next to Josie right after communion.

Communion is the entire point of the Catholic Mass so if you miss that, you may as well have stayed home.  I dropped Josie off at home and buzzed over to St. Thomas, which has an 11:00 mass, slipped into a back pew just in time for the Lord's prayer.  All I missed at both masses was the homily and both Jay and Josie told me what Father H. had talked about so I feel like I got it all covered.

In the afternoon, Jay took me to the mall of America and bought me new boots.  Dressy, black, ankle high boots that I can wear without my feet aching within minutes.  They look great and as a size 10W, they fit.  We also went to a western apparel shop and I tried on cowboy boots.  Lovely, and the men's sizes are wide enough for my pods.  We didn't buy any but eventually, I'm getting some.  I like the ankle high boots best.  In addition to huge, wide feet, my calves are nothing to be scoffed at.  Or chaffed.  If they can make pajama jeans (look like jeans, feel like pajamas!) why can't they make slipper boots?

Maybe they can.  If I actually entered a shoe store once in a while, maybe I'd find some.

Later in the week was the big Gala for DCTC.  Jay had worked pretty hard on his end of things there; some of our friends sponsored tables and donated some cool items for the silent auction.

We had a very good time.  Lots of friends and family were there, the venue was lovely, the food was good, everyone bought something at the auction and the speakers were funny.

Last night I bopped over to Lucia's house.  Her hubby is out of town so she had an all girls cocktail party.  I had planned on staying long enough to have a glass of wine and grab the pajama jeans (it's my turn.  I'll explain later) and get home but the party turned out to be too much fun to leave.

It didn't go real late; we're a bunch of moms, for heaven sake.  I was back home by 10:15 but it was too late to stick my head in on the second party I'd been invited to.

I was about to get ready for Lucia's when a knock on my door turned up two old friends from the neighborhood I'd grown up in. I hadn't seen George in a year or his sister Sharon in even longer but they were on their way to a party at the home of yet another old friend who now lives two blocks from me.  Back in the sixties and seventies, we'd all lived within a block of each other over by Williamberry Woods (simply called 'the woods' by all of us.)  Back in the day, that neighborhood was crawling with huge Catholic families.  Just the three I've mentioned numbered 27 kids.  Now, Linden Hills is home to wealthy types who sport 'Coexist' bumper stickers on their volvos and fly one world flags from the front porches they never sit on who put out their own book of poetry.  Apparently half the old gang has moved to my neighborhood.

Today, I'm going to some estate sales with my mom.

Football ended a week ago, basketball began last night and life goes on.

Obla di obla da.